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Monday, September 20, 2010

People often ask me what kind of music I like and the question is always really hard to answer for me. Instead of giving a genre that I like, I always give different groups I like. Like Iron and Wine, Mason Jennings, The Postal Service, Beirut, Coldplay, and of course Lady Gaga (Just kidding). Although my favorite groups are somewhat similar, I like lots of different genres.

The honest answer to the question of what kind of music do I like is that I like Good Music that Doesn't Annoy Me. You may ask, what makes music "Good Music?"

It cannot be somebody that originated on the Disney Channel. Sorry Rachel, I just don't like that kind of music. It's as catchy as an angler on the Russian River but not that great.

On the topic of catchy, it has to be catchy. I'm not in the least bit impressed with some shredding guitar solo that sounds like a soaking wet cat. Catchy is dependent on having a good melody. Keep in mind that catchy isn't everything...I mean just listen to I Kissed a Girl by Katie Perry. It's catchy, but horrible.

It can't be sappy. For example I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. Very catchy song, but very sappy and lovey dovey. I think it could be a good song without the sappy lyrics and the do-do-do chorus. Like these lyrics, "Scooch on over closer, dear and I will nibble on your ear." So lame.

It can't be annoying. An example of music that I would almost consider good music is Surfjan Stevens. He has some pretty cool songs, I just have a hard time listening to very many because they just annoy me a little bit. Yes, all music gets annoying if you listen to it over and over again, but some music gets annoying really fast.

It can't be modern country music. Old school stuff is great though and Blue Grass, and the non-sappy stuff.

Oh and just because it's popular doesn't mean it's not good. It annoys me when people hate all popular music. For example, Coldplay, Outkast sometimes, Beatles, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, etc.

Can't be repetitive Techno or Trance music. I challenge you to try to change my opinion on that. p.s. Postal Service is not Techno.

This whole rant may make it look like I'm extremely picky about music. Maybe for me to really love the music, I am picky, but I can at least enjoy listening to lots of different music even if I wouldn't include it in my favorite music.

2 comments:

I know what you mean. It's so hard these days to name genres because almost everything I like is "classic rock" or "alternative" but within those genres live a lot of really diverse groups. I end up just citing my favorite artists too. Maybe I need to track Pandora and see why they give me the things they do on the stations I like - sort of plot the sub-genres. Could be an interesting experiment for a lazy weekend morning.

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About Me

I am a Physicist, a Musician, a Cyclist, a Casual Athlete, a Slow Reader, and a Christian. I'm from Alaska and now live in Denver. I write this blog which is about Coffee, Cycling, Alaska, Colorado, Philosophy, Christianity, Social Phenomena, How-To workshops, Stories from my Childhood, Stories from my Adulthood, Romance, Math, and Physics